Barely a month after the Apple September event, Apple unveiled its second fall product launch on Monday—confirming rumours of new MacBooks that have been circulating for months. They arrive along with improved M1 chips, accompanied by upgraded AirPods and new HomePod mini colours. Without further ado, here’s everything that was announced at the Apple Unleased October 2021 event.
MacBook Pro (2021)
Build: MacBook Pro 14-inch | MacBook Pro 16-inch
Processor: Either the new M1 Pro or M1 Max chip, boasting supercharged CPU and GPU performance (more on these later)
Design: There’s an all-new aluminium chassis and improved thermal design with physical function keys replacing the previous Touch Bar, a new Force Touch trackpad, and a new tactile ring on the Touch ID to help guide the finger to unlock the Mac easily and securely.
Display: Both variants come with Liquid Retina XDR display with refresh rates of up to 120Hz. Bezels are now just 3.5mm on the sides with a notch-cutout at the top of the screen for the camera.
Camera and audio: The new MacBook Pros finally get an upgraded 1080p FaceTime camera with a larger image sensor for two times better low light performance. They also come with six speakers, including two new tweeters that are two times larger than before.
Connectivity: Apple has now increased the number of ports on the MacBook Pro, including three Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 3.5-millimetre headphone jack, an SDXC card reader, a HDMI port, and a quick-releasing MagSafe 3 port.
Battery: Thanks to the new M1 processors, the MacBook Pro series boasts an even longer battery life than before. The 14-inch variant features up to 17 hours of video playback, whilst the 16-inch variant tops out at 21 hours of video playback. Both support fast charging to reach 50 per cent of battery life in just 30 minutes.
Price: From RM8,799 for the MacBook Pro 14-inch | From RM10,799 for the MacBook Pro 16-inch
AirPods 3
Design: The third-generation AirPods now seem to resemble the AirPods Pro more than the original AirPods, launching with a snug, contoured design, shorter stem and smaller case. The force sensor on the AirPods offers pinch-perfect control to play, pause or skip through songs, as well as to answer and end calls.
Audio: The new AirPods 3 is equipped with adaptive EQ and spatial audio technology, which uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to create a virtual surround sound effect when watching supported movies and TV shows or listening to music via an iPhone or iPad. There’s also a new low-distortion driver for better bass performance and crisp high frequencies, in addition to HD voice support for FaceTime.
Battery: Apple has upgraded the battery life on the new AirPods to six hours of listening time on a full charge, and up to 30 hours in total with the charging case.
Price: RM829
M1 Pro and M1 Max
As for the new M1 processors Apple is raving about, users can expect a much more powerful performance compared to the standard M1 and previous Intel chips, oweing to more CPU and GPU cores:
M1 Pro: 10-core CPU, up to 16-core GPU, up to 32GB of unified memory and up to 200GB of memory bandwith for 70 per cent faster performance compared to the original M1 chip
M1 Max: 10-core CPU, up to 32-core GPU, up to 64GB of unified memory and up to 400GB of memory bandwith, which Apple claims will to be seven times faster than a PC laptop at peak performance
HomePod Mini
In addition, Apple revealed a slew of fresh, vibrant colours for the HomePod mini in time for the holiday season. Besides the existing white and dark grey options, the smart speaker will come in new orange, yellow, and blue colours.
Apple has yet to announce the official launch dates in Malaysia for the above lineup. Watch this space for updates or visit Apple’s website for more information.
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